Proxy Services

How to Avoid Having Your AdSense Accout Banned for Click Fraud

If you trawl through the AdSense message boards you can’t help but come across tales of woe from AdSense publishers that have had their account banned by Google.

Below is a list of ways people have been banned from AdSense and information on how to avoid it happening to you.

Don’t click on your own ads

The obvious one but still people do it. Google has the IP address of the computer/s that you’ve used to create and check your AdSense account. If it sees that this IP address clicks one of your ads you’re in trouble.

Don’t do it. It’s theft. Not from Google but from the AdWords advertisers.

If you want to go to a site advertised by one of your ads don’t click on it look at the URL of the advertising site at the bottom of the ad and type it into your browser.

If you click on one accidentally (which does happen) you’re probably be ok but it’s worth dropping a quick email to Google with an explanation and apology

Don’t log in to AdSense from a shared computer.

As I said above Google keeps a record of every machine IP address used to look at your account. If you check your stats on a machine then someone else clicks on your ads from the same machine Google sees this as click fraud. Worth bearing in mind when thinking of checking your stats from somewhere like an Internet Café.

Don’t log in to your AdSense account from work.

Apart from getting in trouble with the company that employs you there’s also a further real risk. Most companies use a proxy server to access the Internet. A proxy server with ONE IP ADDRESS. Therefore you checking your ads from work means this proxy IP address being recorded by Google as one that you use. Problem is if there are 1000 people in your company it is the same IP address for them too. Google can’t differentiate between you and the other 999 employees in your company. If one of these 999 clicks on one of your ads it’s ban time.

Don’t get into a ‘I’ll click your ads if you click mine’ agreement with another Webmaster.

As above Google will have your IP address and that of every AdSense publisher. If they see these IP addresses consistently clicking on each other ads it’s goodbye for both of you.

Don’t tell friends and family.

Telling friends and family about your money making websites can lead to problems. Even if you tell them not to click on your ads there’s always the chance that Auntie Maud will think it’s a good idea to make some extra money for her favourite nephew. 100 clicks later from the same visitor and your account is screaming ‘Click Fraud’.

Receiving clicks from illegal traffic

Check the AdSense TOS for sources of traffic that aren’t allowed by Google. These include methods like Traffic exchange, PTC advertising, Auto surf etc.

Do monitor your visitor and AdSense figures

Check your account at least once a day. If you see a massive spike coupled with a massive increase in Page CTR investigate using your visitor stats website. If you see it’s all come from the same IP address you could have been the victim of a malicious attack – inform Google via email and offer them access to your logs.

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What Are Proxy Ports And Protocols

Whenever a computer receives or transmits information, be it a home computer or a server, it does so through an open port that at some point connects to a router, which will then send the information over the internet. Depending on the type of data being processed, certain specific ports are used.

In proxy servers, there are several ports that are most commonly used. These protocols communicate with external devices, such as routers, by means of a protocol. Protocols are used in order to allow equipment to communicate with each other and establish how information is sent over the internet.

The most common protocol used by proxy ports is TCP – Transmission Control Protocol. TCP is an essential part of any TCP/IP network. While the IP – Internet Protocol – deals with the packets of data that is being transmitted, TCP is in charge of guaranteeing that these packets will be delivered and that they will arrive at their destination in the same order that they were sent through a specific port. Some ports use another type of protocol, which is UDP. Although UDP also establishes communication between ports, is does not guarantee it.

Other commonly used protocols are:

• HTTP – establishes the format in which web browsers and internet sites communicate with each other
• FTP – establishes formats for file transfers
• IMAP – determines communication between e-mail servers and their clients
• SSL Protocol – determines formats used for encrypted communication

The most commonly used proxy ports are:

TCP Port 80
Protocol / Name: WANRemote
Description: Standard web service port. When transferring sensitive data, port 443 is recommended as this is a vulnerable Trojan port. It should be tested to identify vulnerabilities if used, either through spyware removal programs or firewalls.

TCP Port 8000
Protocol / Name: iRDMI
Description: Not a Trojan port.

TCP Port 8080
Protocol / Name: http-alt
Description: An HTTP alternative port. It is a vulnerable Trojan port and should be tested to identify vulnerabilities if used, either through spyware removal programs or firewalls.

TCP Port 8081
Protocol / Name: blackice-logon
Description: Network Admin port for BlackIce’s intrusion detection program through its host-based firewall.

TCP Port 443
Protocol / Name: https
Description: A secure port which uses HTTP over SSL. Information sent through this port is encrypted via the SSL protocol.

TCP Port 444
Protocol / Name: snpp
Description: Uses Simple Network Paging Protocol for data transfers.

TCP Port 1080
Protocol / Name: socks
Description: A SOCKS port used for outbound TCP services, such as FTP and HTTP. As with port 80 and 8080, it is vulnerable to attacks. Attackers that connect to this port can bounce off to reach other internal hosts that are otherwise protected from direct attacks. Port scans should be made in order to listen for attempts of connection to this port.

TCP Port 2301
Protocol / Name: Cpq-wbem
Description: Compaq HTTP port.

TCP Port 3128
Protocol / Name: ReverseWWWTunnel
Description: Reverse WWW Tunnel Backdoor port.

TCP Port 3382
Protocol / Name: fujitsu-neat
Description: Fujitsu Net Enhanced Antitheft port.

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How To Set Up A Wireless Connection Without ICS

Setting up a shared internet connection

Abstract If you have one computer connected to the internet (from now on called the “server”), and another connected to that computer (from now on called the “client”) via a wireless connection you may wish to have the client access the internet through the server. The normal way of doing this is to use Windows built in ICS, however if you don’t wish to use this (eg it doesnt work or doesnt provide you with enough control over the connection) you may wish to manually set up a proxy server. This tutorial tells you how.

You will need..

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Firewall As Security Wall For Computer Protection

Firewalls are security programs for computers that work same as that of physical firewalls protecting them from external hazards things. If an organization is using a network based environment then there is more chance of getting harm then a stand alone computer. So it is strictly recommended that there should be some security measures that will allow only the permitted things to get in and push unwanted stuff outwards. Even if the home computers uses internet surfing then intruders can easily make home in your computer files. To avoid such harms and security problems, firewall concept is eve loved. This phenomenon works as just like of barrier to keep damaging forces away. Firewall works just near to the router program scanning out each packet coming to the destination whether it has to forward or not. Usually firewall programs are placed in the separate systems to avoid taking direct request at private network connections. A lot of firewall products are available in the market that are providing some interesting and useful features like

-Record keeping facility

-Generating reports on regular intervals

-Alarming facility on any attack

-GUI based system

Working of Firewall:

Firewall works on three principles which data is permitted to come in and which not. -Sorting out Packets

Data on the network is sent in the form packets from one computer to the other computer. So firewall is aiming at packets first, it starts filtering them and then send to the demanding computer and cast off all other packets.

-Proxy

Some proxy settings are done on the network computers by firewall programs. All the information coming from the internet resource is first checked by firewall then transmitted to the requested system.

-Assessment of Packets Content

Not whole of the content is checked by firewall programs but certain keywords are matched to the defined database information in the firewall. If keyword match found they packets are allowed inside the network otherwise they are discarded.

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Email Address Search - How To Trace An Email Address

Should you need to find an email address, the internet offers you the possibility to perform a free email address lookup through various websites providing a wide range of databases and worldwide information.

Unfortunately if you want to be successful in your email address search, you might need to probe into more sophisticated ways as free services on the internet seem to be obsolete.

You can use Big Foot, Switchboard or Google to do your email search but your chances are very limited. Few people now use their real names when creating an email account and you can certainly bet that if a person does not want to be found they are very likely not to use their real details.

In that case you have to start investigating how you can read that email address so that it delivers crucial information to you. Do you know what a header is? You can learn how to find a header easily and how to open it up. Then you can access the computer IP and find the location of the user.

Should you want to go into more detail you can use paid software that will perform the email address search for you. It is very cost effective and it enables you to access a large scope of names, worldwide public records as well as tricks to decipher users, whether they want to hide behind a proxy or change their IP location.

The IP gives you the location of the user. By changing it, people can hide their real location and conceal their online ID. When you perform an email address search, locating the IP accurately is the very first thing you should aim for to have successful results.

Learning the components of an email address, how to access and change them is a pre-requisite if you want to know what tactics are used by professionals to change their online ID.

Learning what a proxy is, how to use it, how to find the header in an email, how to send anonymous emails, how to find the ISP or IP of the user are also essential basics you need to master in your quest to become a professional email tracker.

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Tweaks to Speed Up Internet Streaming Video

The birth of “Guerilla Video” sites, such as Peekvid.com, Alluc.org and Youtube.com have given users instant access to a plethora of free media files. Although streaming video technology offers instant access to video files, zero loading time is not always possible. There are many factors that attribute to your computer’s ability to start videos immediately. Other factors such as choppy PC video playback and slow video streaming also hinder your viewing experience. There are easy fixes to these problems. Sometimes choosing another site for the source of the video streaming or a lower quality version of the video can award you with instant play. These alternatives are not always available. However, there are a number of tweaks that help speed up your streaming video startup times, eliminate choppy PC video play and stop slow streaming video.

Before we start with the tweaks to speed up slow streaming video, lets get a basic understanding of streaming video technology in order to stop choppy video. Streaming video is a prerecorded video files that can be distributed as part of a live broadcast “feed.” The video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a Web server. This server is able to be multicast the same file to multiple users at the same time. When you click on the on the video it is partially loaded before you can access it. This is known as “buffering”. This helps you to load and play the video instantaneously. Now lets take a look on how to cut down on buffering time, stop slow streaming video and eliminate choppy PC video playback .

Common Streaming Video Problems

Problem #1: Choppy PC Video Playback–Choppy video is usually a PC performance related issue. Here are a few things you can try to stop choppy playback and improve computer performance.

Solution A. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration—All media applications require different aspects of your computer’s hardware. Depending on the task, the requirements may change. Turning off hardware acceleration allows the application to set the requirements itself and not be forced to use one universal setting. Hardware acceleration has been to known to cause choppy PC playback, application crashes and slow streaming video problems.

You can eliminate the problem below:
1.Click on “Start”
2.Click “Control Panel”
3.Select the “Settings” tab and click on the “Advanced”.
4.Click on the “Troubleshoot” tab.
5.Disable the hardware acceleration completely by dragging the slider to the extreme left.

Solution B. Turn off Video Acceleration—The reason for this tweak is the similar to hardware acceleration. This act frees up resources in your media player and not your hardware. However you will need to decrease video acceleration in your chosen player. Some sites like Youtube.com don’t offer this option. However, Windows Media Player gives the ability to easily alter this problem, follow the steps below. Other players’ instructions will vary.

1. In Windows Media Player
2. Click the “Tools” menu tab
3. Click on “Options”
4. Select the “Performance” tab.
5. Move the Video Acceleration Slider to “None”

Solution C. Adjust your Windows Desktop Visual Effects—You computer will get a significance boost in speed. This tweak will also free up more resources for your media player and PC performance.

1.Click “Start”, and then click “Control Panel”.
2.Click “System” and Choose “Display”.
3.Find the “Advanced” tab and Click
4.Under “Performance”, Click “Settings”
5.Under “Visuals Effects”, you may choose from a list of options such as “Adjust for best performance” or custom. If you choose Adjust for best performance all the features will be unchecked.

For more performance tips check the “Ways to Speed Up Your PC” to free up more resources to stop PC choppy playback.

Problem #2: Slow and Constant Buffering—This problem can be attributed to two factors internet speed and your media player. You can tweak your PC setting in both areas to cut down on slow streaming video. Remember that each player has its own buffer settings. Below is an how to change buffer setting in Media Player.

Solution A. Adjust Buffer Settings– To change the default buffer settings in Windows Media Player, use the following steps:
1.Start Windows Media Player
2.Click the “View” men
3.Click “Options”
4.On the “Advanced” tab, click “Streaming Media”(Windows Media)
5.Click “Change” to alter the buffer settings.

Remember that the higher you set the buffer the more of the clip will be loaded. The waiting time before you can see or hear the file will be longer, but there should be fewer interruptions once the clip begins to play.

Solution B. Use a Video Specific Proxy—A proxy allows for popular files to be loaded onto its servers. This eliminates the need for your computer to load the files. For example if you use the proxy, YouTubeProxy.org, you will not have to wait for your computer to download popular YouTube.com content because it may be already loaded in the server. This is a great way to stop slow streaming video.

These are just a few tips to eliminate choppy PC video playback and slow streaming video. However, there are more advanced ways to stop this problem. Depending on the site, there may be independent software developed specifically to speed up slow streaming video. Also, remember the general maintenance is a good way to avoid choppy PC video playback.

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Logfile Analysis vs Page Tagging

We all know we should be using web analytics to analyse web site visitor behaviour and online marketing channel performance. However what type of web analysis should we use? Should you go for log file analysis or page tagging or a bit of both? First of all let’s define what we mean by these terms.

Page tagging involves placing a piece of code usually externalised JavaScript on each page of your site and is sometimes referred to as client-side data collection. Every time a tagged page is opened by a visitor’s browser the script is processed and visitor information collected. Log file analysis refers to data collected by your web server. What’s the difference from a web analytics point of view?

The bad news is that both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages so here goes.

Page Tagging Advantages

• Because data is collected client side this gets around any proxy and caching problems

• Will give you information on web design parameters such as browser versions, platform versions, screen resolution, connection speed etc

• Track client side events such as JavaScript and flash events

Page Tagging Disadvantages

• Firewalls can prevent or interfere with script processing

• Set up costs associated with insertion of code.

• Insertion of code can lead to errors

• Will not pick up page errors such as 404s

• Because robots ignore scripts can not track search engine spiders

• Unable to directly track non html pages

• Vendor Specific

Logfile Analysis Advantages

• Historical Data can be analysed

• Little set up cost

• No firewall issues

• Easily track page errors

• Can track Search Engine spiders

• Vendor Independent

• Can track non html pages such as pdfs

Logfile Disadvantages

• Proxy/caching inaccuracies. If a page is cached no record is logged on your web server

•No web design parameters

• No event tracking

If you are used to looking at web statistics using Web Trends for instance you may see significant differences in visitor numbers. When moving to logfile analysis visitor numbers may increase by 20-30%. If your site is not using persistent cookies your web analytics programme can not identify unique visitors therefore all visitors are lumped together as total. Typically unique visitors represent about 20 -30% of total web site visits so this metric will be inflated by this amount. Sometimes you’ll see a dramatic reduction in site visits. This is usually because web analytics programmes strip out the loading of graphics which are erroneously counted as visits by other programs.

Other differences in visitor numbers are usually due to how programs define a visit. A visit duration of 30 minutes means that multiple visits from the same IP address with-in this time period will be counted as a single visit. Change this parameter to 15 minutes and these visits could be counted several times and your total visits will increase. Finally, when a web browser loads a PDF file is brings down different parts of the file at different time and some programs can count this as multiple requests for the same file. A good web analytics programme will collapse these multiple downloads into a single.

It is important to understand these differences and manage the expectations of your colleagues as surprise drops in web site metrics can sometimes lead to disenchantment with measuring web site performance altogether.

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Sources for Targeted Web Site Traffic

Qualified traffic is the lifeblood of any web site today, especially for ecommerce sites that are selling goods or services online. But, many media buyers and/or owners of web sites are paying too much for traffic by relying on top tier PPC (”pay per click”) search engines like Overture or Google’s Ad Words Select programs and others.

There is a new breed of web site traffic brokers emerging in the interactive marketing world that are brokering qualified traffic to the highest bidder on a CPC (”cost per click”) basis. Traffic brokers bypass tried and true business processes by flipping the business proposition 180 degrees. They don’t find clients and then optimize their web site for search engines; they do it the other way around, by developing and optimizing their own domains for top tier search engines and then reselling this traffic by redirecting it to a destination of their choosing in real time.

So, is this process illegal or unethical? It’s hard to say. I don’t believe these processes are more disingenuous than what’s occurring with hidden “sponsorship listings” via top tier search engines, including Yahoo, MSN, LookSmart, Overture, etc. The latter are now starting to take up the lion’s share of the first page on search results — these results are viewed tens of millions of times per day, with many people unaware that the results are “sponsored listings.”

To muddy the digital waters even more, marketing services companies are starting to offer “trusted feed” traffic to companies who want to buy qualified traffic on a CPC (”cost per click”) basis. This process is just starting to take hold in the marketplace and works by a marketing services firm contacting a prospective client and offering them “trusted feed” search engine listings on a top tier web site like MSN or LookSmart on a CPC “cost per click” basis. They (the marketing services firm) then build web site pages for their client that are based on their in-depth knowledge of what the search engines want and then submit these pages to the search engine/directory’s editors who then review the sites, give the “client” a top tier listing site and then share in the CPC trusted feed revenue with the marketing services firm.

It’s getting pretty murky when you start to look closely at what and how traffic originates. I don’t think brokering traffic is bad or unethical as long as the web site that is the final recipient of the traffic is offering goods and services that are identical to the referring web site. And, there is a self-policing component of these types of processes — the traffic brokers want repeat business, so it is in their self interest to make sure the redirected traffic is being sent to a similar web site.

Also, “conversion rates” (the number of people taking a specific action versus the amount of traffic) are rapidly becoming the final determinant of building a sustaining relationship between the traffic brokering firm and the recipient web site. If the traffic coverts then the recipient typically wants to buy more, if not, they will move on to another source — this reinforces the self-policing aspects of the relationship.

So what do you look for if you want to start buying traffic from a web site traffic broker? Price is certainly a large factor in determining what your interest should be; most of us in the traffic brokering business typically offer keyword traffic at about a third or half of what you would pay via a trusted feed setup, or Overture or an Ad Words Select program via Google. Expect to pay more for filtered (”automotive, insurance, telecommunications”) versus unfiltered (”shopping mall type of traffic”) as the former has to be carefully filtered for specific keywords or keywords sets so it can be distributed to a larger number of web sites.

Next, make sure you get a 24/7 reporting capability that enables you to analyze your traffic in real time — this report should show the originating keyword traffic (keywords are always embedded in the search string). And look carefully at your report; proxy traffic (or cached pages) should be filtered out so that there is no more than 5-10% of the total traffic — you can’t get away from having some proxy traffic in this day in age, even AOL is using proxy servers. Finally, look closely at your report. The timelines should have some randomness in the sequences; if you see a traffic report with keyword traffic that is spaced very closely in terms of the timeline, warning bells should go off.

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Domain Name Registration and Privacy

The internet is a wonderful thing, except for a few small details. When you register your first domain name, you get your introduction to one of them. There’s a lot of information they want. Your name, your email address, your physical address, your phone number. For each of 4 separate categories, and the Registrant, Admin and Technical categories are publicly available (for almost all TLDs - Top Level Domains, with the possible exception of .ws - Western Samoa).

Email addresses, which must be valid, phone numbers and physical addresses which also must be valid. I personally think it’s both absurd and dangerous to make this information so easily available. Once again the right to privacy of law-abiding individuals is being abridged supposedly to help catch lawbreakers. Since this information would be provided under a court order, making it publicly available just invites abuse.

Spammers, scammers, stalkers and the idle whacko can easily get this information. And it’s a nice start on identity theft, too. However, for most people, the most likely result is an increase in the amount of spam you get. But, much worse can and has happened.

So what solutions are there? Basically there two ways to protect your privacy if you are a private individual without access to a legal entity such as a company to own the domain name (note that if it is a company, you must provide accurate information. This only moves the problem to a slightly less personal level).

First you could lie. No, that’s not one of the ways. Unwise and illegal too, and you are a law-abiding type, right? So, first, a proxy registration is one alternative.

Essentially you make a binding legal agreement with a company which will register the domain name as if they owned it and then provide their own information to meet the requirements. For each domain, they will set-up a special email which they will monitor and forward to you, usually after spam filtering, if you want them to.

They, of course, retain your data and will also monitor physical mail. You will be notified of first class mail which appears to or could be legal documents or if registered or couriered mail arrives. They will, for a fee, ship such to you, if you agree and pay. Generally such items would be sent by courier. Phone callers will be directed to use the email or physical address shown in the WhoIs record

Of course, under subpoena or other specified conditions they will provide your details. You will have full rights as owner - as long as you behave and don’t violate the agreement.

The other alternative, usually called “private registration”, is a little different. Here your name would still appear as registrant. You would provide the names of the admin and technical contacts. But the address, email and phone number would be provided and monitored by the organization handling the private registration in essentially the same manner as a proxy registration. Thus with this alternative you remain in full legal control of your domain name since it is registered in your name rather than the name of a proxy.

On the face of it this second alternative sounds better, but your name is hanging out there on view and you may have valid reasons for not wanting that (perhaps the company you work for takes a dim view of moonlighting, or you have had a stalking problem or are doing something perfectly legitimate but don’t want your name linked to it).In that case, a proxy registration is the only real alternative.

In case you’re thinking you can hide out and do whatever sort of bad stuff behind a proxy or private registration, don’t even dream about it. These outfits take it very personally if you misbehave and the legal agreements spell it out.

If you decide to pursue a proxy or private registration, make very sure that you are working with a legitimate company with a track record. A domain name can be a very valuable possession. Both your registrar and, if it’s a separate organization, the entity that does the proxy or private registration must be quality, legitimate outfits. Registrars offering extremely low prices which are way out of line with the going rates - unless it’s a special - just might be after your credit card and identity. Also, this time, actually read the agreement and TOS so you do know what you’re doing and what could happen under what circumstances.

Wondering why I’m writing about this? Well, it’s because I’m getting more and more spam and I started doing some research on possible solutions. And I figured, I wan’t the only one looking to do something about the problem. And then, I discovered that some registrars will provide free proxy or private registration with your domain name purchase. So think about it and do some checking before you buy a domain name. Your privacy is a precious possession.

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What Are Protocols In VoIP Telephony

VoIP protocols are the technical codings that enable voice to be carried over the internet. There are several competing standards in that field. Here you have a brief summary of these.

Perhaps the most famous VoIP protocol is the H.323 standardized by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). H.323 is very sophisticated partially due to the fact that it is not just a strict VoIP protocol but also one for interactive data sharing, videoconferencing and audio/video processing. It is actually a conglomeration of several smaller protocols, namely:

• Transport protocols H.225, H.235,H.245,H.450.1,H.450.2,H450.3,RTP,X.224.0

• Data protocols T.122,T124,T125,T126,T127

• Audio protocols G.711,G.722,G.723.1,G.728,G.729

• Video protocols H.261,H263

• Fax protocol T.38

Another smaller but very robust protocol is more geared to just VoIP. It is called Session Initiation Protocol and usually referred to as simply SIP. It consists of MIME, SDP and SIP itself.

MGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol supported by Level 3, Bellcore, Cisco and Nortel) has also gained a substantial share of the VoIP market. Other main VoIP related protocols include Megaco H.248 (Media Gateway Control boasting great interoperability and backed by GTE, ICG, Netcom, Level 3,Sprint and founded by joint cooperation of IETF and the ITU-T Study Group 16), RVP over IP, SAPv2, SGCP and Skinny.

All these protocols are not always 100% compatible with each other therefore some possible standardization might by showing up there in the future.

And important factor in protocols application is bandwidth optimization. Signaling proxy operations are normally faster then the full proxy modes but perhaps the fastest are approaches like those of TDMoIP which deal with bundling together conversations going in the same direction.

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